My Best Friend’s Mom

Some gaps aren’t meant to be closed. This one was.Lucy doesn’t make mistakes. She runs her kennel with precision, keeps her life exactly the way she wants it, and never acts without knowing exactly what she’s doing.

She knows what she’s doing with Abbie.

At twenty-two, Abbie is her summer employee — and the worst idea Lucy has ever entertained. Twenty-three years between them. Nine weeks of Abbie sleeping down the hall, her ponytail coming apart by evening, her pulse visible every time Lucy stands too close.

Abbie calls her ma’am. Can’t say her name. Goes still the moment Lucy’s hands are anywhere near her.

Lucy is patient. She has always been patient.

But patience has a shape — and she can feel it sharpening.